Yes, I was talking about the 121.5 ELT. As far as taking the search out of SAR that is what they said when SARSAT was introduced. The new 406 system is a huge step above the older system if for no other reason than the information that will be provided to the searchers and the reduction in the number of false alarms.
As a side note I would be willing to bet most ELT's that go into private aircraft will not have the GPS with them. When the ELT's where introduced most aircraft owners bought the least costly unit they could because they "knew" that they would never crash so why spend money on something that won't get used. I will not even talk about some of the instulations useing Velcro straps.

However we are talking about EPLB's that are being bought by people who know that even with the best planning things can and will go wrong and that becon may be the only way to get help. I also think a lot of criet goes to the testing that ETS has done to keep the makers of the equipment honest.